Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[Toshiba191]

@Toshiba191 the DBR62 got a max power handling of 120W. They are all more then adequate.

One last general question regarding the power of an amplifier: Can or would there be a difference in sound quality when choosing a more powerful amp (e.g. 250W) over a less powerful amp (e.g. 125W)?

This question is related to speakers with a max power handling within 125W and 250W in this case.

 

[MarkS]

All solid-state amps sound the same (that is, perfect) unless played so loud that their maximum power output is exceeded (this is called "clipping"). This is VERY loud in most circumstances. 125W is usually plenty. But if an extra 100euro does not matter much to you, then go ahead and get the 250W amp. You almost certainly will never use the extra power, and thus it does not matter if it exceeds the speaker's rating. Also, some people claim that high power is needed for "peaks" in the music, and that clipping of peaks occurs way more often than most believe. I am skeptical of this claim, and am not aware of any blind listening tests that have shown that this effect is audible (if it indeed occurs at all).

I would definitely not pay an extra 1000euro for still more power and/or "better" amp modules, they all sound exactly the same and you will never use that much power.

 

[wyup]

Do you think the amplifier module "Hypex Ncore NC122MP" is good for the DBR62?

AUDIOPHONICS AP300-S125NC Power Amplifier Ncore NC122MP

The Audiophonics AP300-S125NC is a stereo amplifier based on a Hypex Ncore NC122MP amplifier module. It is ideal for providing a significant power reserve (2x125W @ 4Ω) without sacrificing sound reproduction quality.

www.audiophonics.fr

No, It's not. I bought it, the Audiophonics in the slim version. i Have the DBR62 and I regret it. The Hypex NC122MP Amp sounds dry, thin, coarse. Violins tend to sound electric, and spanish guitars acoustic. I feed it from a upgraded Aune X8 XVIII dac. Too much gain. Causes fatigue.
To be honest, a cheap Onkyo A-9010 sounds better, more lifelike. Control of the woofers is really similar. I've heard other amps drive these speakers easier with more grunt. 75W at 8-ohms of class D is not enough for this speaker. Not for gain or raw SPL, but for woofer control. The NC122MP at high volume puts off. This speaker needs (sucks) current and powerful amps. It's a contrasted fact from many reviews. Otherwise it sounds meak and boring. That's why many people returned it.
But fed from the right amplifier this speaker comes to life and can be surprisingly refined and bass powerful like a subwoofer, without distortion. But you're going to have to invest quite more than the DBR62 cost.

At least I speak from my experience. Now detractors come bark at me.

 

[tw 2022]

No, It's not. I bought it, the Audiophonics in the slim version. i Have the DBR62 and I regret it. The Hypex NC122MP Amp sounds dry, thin, coarse. Violins tend to sound electric, and spanish guitars acoustic. I feed it from a upgraded Aune X8 XVIII dac. Too much gain. Causes fatigue.
To be honest, a cheap Onkyo A-9010 sounds better, more lifelike. Control of the woofers is really similar. I've heard other amps drive these speakers easier with more grunt. 75W at 8-ohms of class D is not enough for this speaker. Not for gain or raw SPL, but for woofer control. The NC122MP at high volume puts off. This speaker needs (sucks) current and powerful amps. It's a contrasted fact from many reviews. Otherwise it sounds meak and boring. That's why many people returned it.
But fed from the right amplifier this speaker comes to life and can be surprisingly refined and bass powerful like a subwoofer, without distortion. But you're going to have to invest quite more than the DBR62 cost.

At least I speak from my experience. Now detractors come bark at me.

I'd sure love to see someone do a real blind a/b/X comp .. Not gonna argue, I just want to see objective results....

 

[visanj]

No, It's not. I bought it, the Audiophonics in the slim version. i Have the DBR62 and I regret it. The Hypex NC122MP Amp sounds dry, thin, coarse. Violins tend to sound electric, and spanish guitars acoustic. I feed it from a upgraded Aune X8 XVIII dac. Too much gain. Causes fatigue.
To be honest, a cheap Onkyo A-9010 sounds better, more lifelike. Control of the woofers is really similar. I've heard other amps drive these speakers easier with more grunt. 75W at 8-ohms of class D is not enough for this speaker. Not for gain or raw SPL, but for woofer control. The NC122MP at high volume puts off. This speaker needs (sucks) current and powerful amps. It's a contrasted fact from many reviews. Otherwise it sounds meak and boring. That's why many people returned it.
But fed from the right amplifier this speaker comes to life and can be surprisingly refined and bass powerful like a subwoofer, without distortion. But you're going to have to invest quite more than the DBR62 cost.

At least I speak from my experience. Now detractors come bark at me.

I don’t know if the speaker requires really that much power. I was using Sonos Amp with Elac DBR62 and Sonos Amp is 125 watts with Sinad of 92 for digital input but still when I switched to Audiolab 6000a Play which is only 50 watts the same qobuz track sounded beautiful, natural and miles ahead than sonos amp. Sonos amp sounded congested, sterile and processed in comparison. I highly doubt that Audiolab 6000a has better Sinad than sonos amp digital input(streaming input) of 92. So it is not all about power and sinad. There is something else, may DSP which I dont know

 

[ZolaIII]

Elephant in the room is: distance x2= - 6 dB (little less in the room) and W x2= +3 dB.
Read the short phase/magnitude comment of the review!

 

[wyup]

I don’t know if the speaker requires really that much power. I was using Sonos Amp with Elac DBR62 and Sonos Amp is 125 watts with Sinad of 92 for digital input but still when I switched to Audiolab 6000a Play which is only 50 watts the same qobuz track sounded beautiful, natural and miles ahead than sonos amp. Sonos amp sounded congested, sterile and processed in comparison. I highly doubt that Audiolab 6000a has better Sinad than sonos amp digital input(streaming input) of 92. So it is not all about power and sinad. There is something else, may DSP which I dont know

Exactly. You don't requiere much power to sound better. In the sense of 'natural' and 'lifelike'. You mostly need current for the bass to bloom, and this sort of comes with good power. But what makes it sound musical is the general quality of the amp, not raw watts.

More examples: I tried the DBR62 with two hybrid amplifiers: a JC Valvular Acronos M2 which is 50W and a Unison Research Unico Primo which is 70W. Both of them sounded much beautiful and powerful than the Hypex NC122MP. But they have proper power supplies. Even the Musical Fidelity A1, which is only 25W class A sounded beautiful. Only it couldn't drive the woofers with authority and lacked body in the midrange.

So it's not about pure raw watts, but HOW they are delivered from lower volumes.

Power rating of an amplifier at a certain THD only gives you so much of its real capacity and sound quality.

In general, it has been proved that the DBR62 is a tough load for an amplifier. Besides minimal impedance and phase degree at 100 Hz, look at the impedance swing curve. Three peaks that go higher than most speakers.

 

[olds1959special]

I'm using my second pair of Kenwood L-05M's, (one of the two amps was recently repaired due to a buzz from a cracked solder/circuit board issue) and they are 100 watts each and sound great with the DBR62's, using my SMSL D0100 Pro as a DAC/Pre-amp. The power level is just about right, I never have to get louder than around 70-80 on the volume, so there is room to spare. I have them set up on Monolith speaker stands and pair with a Dynaudio BM9S subwoofer, which is connected from the balanced outputs. I just put together a pair of 4 ft 12AWG (untinned) bare wire copper speaker cables, color-coded with heat shrink for this setup. I have the speakers placed 1 ft away from the back wall and 1 ft away from the side wall on either side (which adds a little reinforcement to the bass,) with a slight toe-in.

 

[Toshiba191]

What are the best EQ/PEQ-settings for a flat frequency response with these speakers?

How can I apply these settings in the Wiim app?

 

[staticV3]

What are the best EQ/PEQ-settings for a flat frequency response with these speakers?

Presets can be found here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rence-dbr-62-speaker-review.12232/post-586393

Measurements for speaker Elac Debut Reference DBR-62

www.spinorama.org

Measurements for speaker Elac Debut Reference DBR-62

www.spinorama.org

(for the bottom two links click on the "Data & EQ" tab)

How can I apply these settings in the Wiim app?

Set the equalizer to Parametric EQ (might be called Advanced/Pro/Professional), then type the EQ parameters into the WiiM Home App manually.

 

[Toshiba191]

How much distance to the back wall would you recommend for these speakers? Could 20 - 30 cm be enough space for low to medium volume or do they need more for better overall sound?

 

[Chromatischism]

How much distance to the back wall would you recommend for these speakers? Is 20 - 30 cm enough space or do they need more for better overall sound?

30 cm is good, better than 20.

 

[visanj]

Mine is 10cm from the wall and I don’t hear any room gain but I do believe that bass will be much better if I move it forward few more cm but unfortunately I dont have space

 

[wyup]

They say it doesn't matter much because of their frontal bass port, but in my experience they sound better pulling them 35-40 cm from the wall for less reinforcement.

 

[Chromatischism]

In my experience, the bass is best close to the wall but mids are cleared up when pulling speakers away from the wall. Remember from Erin's measurements that speakers radiate in all directions up to a certain frequency, and it's not just the bass.

 

[KU713]

Today I sold my Elac DBR62 for a Klipsch RP-600M II and I'm happier.

 

[olds1959special]

Today I sold my Elac DBR62 for a Klipsch RP-600M II and I'm happier.

Can you elaborate on the whys?

 

[Steven Holt]

Can you elaborate on the whys?

My money is that he likes a brighter, more forward sound, something the RP600M 2's are famous for. What he's going to learn is that those speakers can be very fatiguing (sp?) to listen to for longer periods. Much better if he would have kept both speakers and A/B'ed them over six mos. He would have kept those Elacs.

 

[DanielT]

My money is that he likes a brighter, more forward sound, something the RP600M 2's are famous for. What he's going to learn is that those speakers can be very fatiguing (sp?) to listen to for longer periods. Much better if he would have kept both speakers and A/B'ed them over six mos. He would have kept those Elacs.

Probably so. Which is consistent with this:

Klipsch RP-600M II Bookshelf Speaker Review

Klipsch RP-600M II Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Then we have the question of what it looks like in @KU713 listening room. The physical design of the room, furniture, carpets, any active acoustic measures taken (diffuser/absorbers) and so on. That plus the difference in dispersion (if there is that much difference?) Elac DBR62 vs Klipsch RP-600M II.So there will be a lot to weigh in.

If KU713 had said that he likes X omni speakers better than DBR62, we would have just stated that KU713 likes how omnis spread out the sound. It wouldn't have been so strange.

I agree with you on A/B'ed them over six mos.
When the pleasure of the novelty has subsided, when the infatuation with boosted tweeters becomes tiring for the ears, when omnis are only experienced like sound porridge instead of a large sound stage. Or not. You have to try it out.

 

[KU713]

I recommend listening to them yourself and forming your own opinion. We are not all the same. We cannot be guided by instructions about what we should like, but by what we really like.